Tikka T3x Lite .308 - Finally Home

[mazzgolf]

 

All cleaned up and scope mounted. Ready for its first range session. (But I have no idea when I'll have time to go!) 

• Rifle: Tikka T3x Lite, Stainless Steel, .308, Left-handed
• Scope: Vortex Viper HS 4-16x44, Dead-Hold BDC reticle
• Rings: Warne 30mm, for Tikka dovetail, Medium height
• Covers: Butler Creek Flip-Open Eyepiece size 16 and Objective size 33

Cheyenne Mountain Outfitters ordered it for me (btw: talk to Jesse if you are looking for a gun -he's helped me a couple times in the past year get specific guns I was looking for but couldn't find elsewhere). Took "only" 2 months for the gun to come in (I was hearing horror stories of gun orders taking 6 to 9 months to come in  - so 2 months was a pleasant surprise). NJ State NICS took 1.5 days.
 

[BHC]

congrats and enjoy

[Merkel]

Very nice; congrats 

[JD48]

Nice gun, have fun

[hostak126]

very nice!

[Yobuck293]

Nice .308 has become my go to round for out of state deer hunts.  Good luck with it.

[djhunt]

Very nice! I be interested to hear what you think after a few rounds down range. I’ve been thinking about a basically 100% identical setup, scope and all

[mazzgolf]

7 hours ago, djhunt said:

Very nice! I be interested to hear what you think after a few rounds down range. I’ve been thinking about a basically 100% identical setup, scope and all

Roger that. I'll post a message after my first range session. I don't know when I'll be able to get out - hopefully within the next few weeks.

[JR8899]

1

Edited May 24, 2022 by JR8899

[JR8899]

On 5/22/2022 at 7:48 AM, djhunt said:

Very nice! I be interested to hear what you think after a few rounds down range. I’ve been thinking about a basically 100% identical setup, scope and all

Great looking gun! I cam here to post basically the same thing. I'm also in the market for a .308 Tikka. Haven't found a scope yet. I'm going to give Cheyenne a call.

[Slayer1962]

I finally bought a tikka 30-06 a few years back. Really like their rifles . accurate and smooth operation 

Good luck with it i am sure it will be accurate 

[mazzgolf]

1 hour ago, JR8899 said:

I'm going to give Cheyenne a call.

A couple months ago, they had a few Tikkas in stock (all right-handed, obviously). You might be able to get one now off the shelf. You can ask him to pull it off the shelf and put it on a 24-hour hold for you (he did that for me last year with the shotgun I was looking for). Tell him "the left-handed Tikka guy told me you had some right-handed Tikkas in stock" -- he'll probably know who you are talking about  

[tjfslaughter]

Regarding Tikka and Sako’s I have had luck with hand loads and have gotten all of mine below 1/2 MOA. I developed the loads and maxed out the overall length of cartridge minus a few thousands.


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[mazzgolf]

First range session today. Overall, love the gun!

I know a couple guys said they were thinking about getting the same (or close) setup as me. So here's some details. These are my first impressions only. I only took 9 shots with it and only stayed at 50 yards. This was more a "barrel break-in and get to know you" day. I first boresighted the gun, then after each 3 shot group I spent a good amount of time putting some solvent-soaked patches and bore brushes down the barrel, then some dry patches. From what I've read, it doesn't seem like people find a need to do elaborate barrel break-in procedures for Tikkas so I didn't go crazy.

1. Bolt is real smooth

2. Trigger is adjustable, but I didn't touch it. Trigger did seem ever so slightly on the heavy side, but overall, it is fine for me.

3. Only shot at 50 yards today, but gun seems accurate. After scope adjustments from the first two shots, was consistently hitting bullseye. A couple shots I know I flinched, those hit about a half-inch high. We'll see when I go out further. I'll go to my club soon and zero the gun at 100. Later I'll try to find a place to go with 300 yards, which is the real test for me.

4. I like the scope - I really needed the side focus. That helps. My eyes ain't so good. But after fiddling with the side focus, the image was clear even at max magnification.

5. The scope has good eye relief at max magnification - a fraction of an inch shorter and it would be kissing my face  But this scope has a nice 4" eye relief which I need apparently.

6. I do not like the fact you need to put the gun on fire to empty the chamber. I would prefer to have the gun on safe when I'm unloading. Just maintain muzzle discipline and keep gun pointed in a safe direction when unloading (which you should be doing anyway, so it isn't too big of a deal, but if I had a choice, I'd rather be able to have the gun on safe when unloading).

Of course I forgot to bring my Torx screwdriver to loosen the rings in order to adjust the scope - I noticed when I got there that the scope reticle was not perfectly level. Need to rotate the scope just a tiny fraction. Since I didn't really zero the gun today, no big deal. I'll fix that before I zero.

[51smd]

Nice shooting…